Making History: Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony!
Follow the Yellow Brick Road The Royal Capital was bustling with activity, as it always had. There were always merchants from foreign lands, performers with exotic beast, and inventors advertising some new, innovative contraptions. For those who were able to access this capital, they found their pockets lined with the wealth of the nobles and royals who wandered freely through the streets of the capital. Despite this wealth, there were no homeless, no beggars, no thieves. In all of Clover, the Royal Capital was the most secure place in the country and the closest place to heaven in the entire world. The sun illuminated the beautiful architecture of the capital, allowing the castle of the King to reflect its radiant lights onto the city itself. The aroma of luxurious foods filled the air like a misty bog as they all mixed together into a collective fume of flavors. There was always so much happening in the capital, from events for the nobles to tourist admiring its beauty. Though, today was an even busier day than anticipated, for the first time in the history of the Clover Kingdom, the grimoire acceptance ceremony would be the largest ever. With the approval of King Guthrie, lord of the realms, Magic Emperor Druisilla has sponsored a grimoire acceptance ceremony within the Royal Capital’s grimoire repository for all inhabitants of the Clover Kingdom to attend. For the first time ever, peasants, nobles and royals alike would stand together in harmony as the gods bestow upon them their grimoires. Druisilla had covered all transportation cost from all citizens registered to receive their grimoires, and thus even peasants were being carried in beautiful chariots befitting royalty and nobles. Perhaps that was her plan, to ensure that none would be able to differentiate between the classes, at least until they stepped from the confines of their chariot. Lea Kira had no taken a chariot, however. The repository wasn’t far from the castle itself, where she took up residence as a royal of House Kira, one of the royal houses of Clover Kingdom and the house from which King Guthrie, and former King Augustus descended from. Guthrie and Lea were cousins of some sort. She hadn’t really dug much into how closely related, because it didn’t truly matter. She would never be Queen, nor did she want it. Her duty was to serve her king, regardless of the price she had to pay. As she approached the massive repository, decored with golden arches and commemorative statues and banners of the previous Kings and Queens if Clovers, there were several Magic Knights stationed outside. Judging by their cloaks, they were members of Golden Dawn, current headed by the Draconus Family another royal household of Clover who had pledged fealty to King Guthrie. “Your name?” Lea stepped forward attentively. “Lea Kira of House Kira!” The Magic Knight flipped through a stack of papers, presumably with the picture and name of the one registered as Lea Kira. She had remembered that months ago, everyone registered for this grimoire acceptance ceremony had to send documents confirming their identity. The Magic Emperor, for people who would normally be unable to do such a thing, sent Magic Knights to serve as liaisons and assist those in the Forsaken Realms with this task. The guard’s eyes stopped and fell between his paper and Lea. “Yes, Lady Lea. Excuse my tardiness in confirming your identity. You may step forth.” Lea nodded and walked inside the grimoire repository; a massive library whose walls were decorated and stained with millions upon millions of grimoires and ancient books. Lea’s eyes lit up in excitement as she scanned her surroundings, as did all of the others around her who were prepared to receive their grimoires. ---- Cain was one of the many that had taken a chariot to the tower, his friends having taken a chariot separate from him. They said that his calmness about the whole situation made them nervous, whatever sense that made. He knew many would probably be nervous; but not him. This was something he had been waiting for, years in the making. The chariot he was in came to a halt and he hopped on out, thanking the driver. To think that the Magic Emperor would be as willing as to offer transportation; how incredible. If he ever got the chance, he’d thank her. The boy looked upon the crowds of people. Nobles gave him looks, but it was nothing new. He had thought about dropping the bomb; revealing who his mother was. But he didn’t really want much to do with her. Cain definitely didn’t want to be associated with that wench. He would make a name for himself, and he would become a Magic Knight, maybe even a Captain one day. But for now, he had to go get his Grimoire. Cain made his way through the lines, weaving through. He was far too impatient to wait in line, so he scurried his way to the front, some of the nobles giving him dirty looks. They murmured the common slurs, but they didn’t bother Cain. The way he saw it was that if he one day got to fight them, he’d take out his rage then. No need to get his sole chance at becoming a Magic Knight taken away so soon. As he got to one of the entrances, the Magic Knight positioned by it looked at the boy. “Name?” she asked. She asked it lazily, as if she wasn’t pleased to see the boy. Cain kept his composure and answered. “Cain Monroe.” The woman shuffled through her papers, before finding Cain’s. She looked at it, and then at him. She sighed. “In you go.” she said. Cain walked past her, and she had already begun checking the next persons identity. Cain was taken aback by the tower. It was beautiful. Millions upon millions of Grimoires could be seen, and one of them would soon be his. He clenched his fists in excitement, letting out a yell of excitement. ---- Haruhi was among the last of the young mages to arrive. Having been separated from her best friends when she had to shake off her family from her back, she had been forced to take many sideroads and hidden paths in order to get here. She had paid some coin for a shared carriage towards the tower. She was a bit anxious, dreading the possibility that she would not get to acquire a grimoire. She had heard horror stories of weak and inconfident mages to not get theirs, rejected and failures of the magical world. She got in line and her anxiousness grew by the minute as her dread festered in herself. When she finally got to the front, the assigned Magic Knight gave her an odd and maybe even worried look. "Aren't you-" "Yes, yes I am Haruhi Rephalia. May I please come in?" She asked as the man began looking through the ledgers. "Y-yes, of course, just... Just don't tell them that it was me." "I don't even know who you are..?" She replied as she began to enter, wanting to find her friends as fast as possible. "All the better then." Was all he said before he left sight and hearing range. ---- Grumbling at the fact that despite all the planing and preparation she made both Caine and Haruhi both went on ahead without her, never mind the fact that it was possible her own fault for over sleeping in the old church away from prying eyes but still they could of attempted to find her. Marching up to the front gate she gave the Knight stationed there a harsh glare when she noticed him ogling her slightly. "If you stop undressing me with your eyes for a second I’d like to enter". She growled out causing the knight to blush in embarrassment as his fellow knights and some of the Magic Knight hopefuls laughed at him. "S-sor-sorry, Umm-ummm your n-name". He managed to question in between stutters as he desperately tried to regather himself. "Arissa Wu". She said before barging past him without looking back after he checked his list and nodded, honestly this was all Caine’s fault he probably wanted to arrive early to flirt with the female Knight hopefuls and completely forgot the plan, possibly leaving poor Haruhi to fend for herself. ---- Soon after the noble born of House Kira arrived, A carriage appeared in front of the massive repository holding the future grimoires of the newest generation of magic knights. The aspiring young knight arriving now was no different from any other person there, at least in his eyes he wasn't. "Young man, we're just about there. Grab your things, be sure not to leave a thing because I can't turn back." The voice of the driver emanated through the mind of this young recruit, despite that he seemed to not be able to hear a thing but his own thoughts. "KID!! get your things, I don't get a lot of time here. You're not the only knight in training I gotta pick up today." The young boy snapped back his head covered in sweat beads, surprisingly on a momentous occasion such as this...the boy looked like he could cry. "Y-YES! Leaving now! S-S-Sorry!" The boy moved in a large outburst, the beads of sweat shot from his forehead along with the small tears welling up in his eyes and onto the carriage floor as he grabbed his things and jumped from the carriage door almost dropping his things from his sweaty hands. "C' mon Colby, you can do this. It's just getting a grimoire what's the worst that can happen?" Colby stood in line awaiting entry to claim his grimoire. While in line he was given dirty stares by many of the noblemen and women who stood around him, the reason for their stares would lie within his family name. As he approached the magic knight who would allow him entry his brain began to settle, he was almost there, almost to his goal of becoming a magic knight which would only be a start. "And what is your name young man?" she asked. "Colby...Monterey." Colby studdered as he uttered his last name to the woman. A look of disgust covered her face as she flipped through her catalog of the registered young recruits, this was all too familiar an occurrence for Colby, he was not surprised. "Right through there" she uttered looking the yellow-haired boy up and down. Colby sighed and proceeded forwards into the room to get his grimoire. He entered the grimoire tower to already see a large crowd of aspiring new recruits this group paired with the ones now entering there would be many people in between him and his chances of realizing his dreams he had to work harder than ever to get where he needed to be. As he scanned the grand hall that held his future grimoire other than the beautiful decorations on other thing caught his eye...he was the shortest person in the room so far this realization made him feel even more stressed than he was previously, awaiting the start of the ceremony. Despite being the shortest person in the room, Lea had managed to catch Colby enter the library and had noticed his initial hesitance. From the last time they had met, she had garnered that he was shy. She pushed off the wall she was leaning on and approached Colby. “Hi Colby,” Lea begun, using her greeting to announce her presence. "How was the trip?" Colby, slightly startled by the voice that approached him turned abruptly. To his surprise, it was Lea, who he had seen and met many times due to their families doing business together often. He let out a sigh of relief relaxing before fully turning to Lea. "Hey Lea, the trip was okay, to say the least. Took longer than I expected though, guess there's a lot of traffic considering the occasion, huh?" Colby smiled seemingly a lot calmer than when he entered the tower. ---- "Now Wesley you do us proud you hear." "Yes you have to be better for all of us."' The voices echoed in his head. It didn't help that his parents hadn't come to see the ceremony, all they'd done is fill his head with their constant nagging. He'd never be like Avalon. Wesley sighed as he sauntered up to the tower to meet the magical guards. "Name please." The guard spoke in a very dry tone. It was clear they didn't want to be here. Easy payday though Wesley figured. "Umbra, Wesley Umbra." He spoke, glaring at the guard, one eyebrow cocked as if to ask if introductions were really necessary. "Ah Umbra yes of course right this way." The guard spat, quickly stepping aside and ushering him in. Wesely nodded and walked past her into the spiraling tower of books. Surrounded by other kids he slightly pushed his way through and stood with the rest of the crowd, awaiting the beginning of the ceremony. He ended up standing next to two other kids, who seemed to be chatting about how long it was taking. "You've been waiting a while too hmm?" ---- Rare was it the the Holy Church would allow its followers to take part in such a sacrilegious ceremony. Only few have partook in this ancient practice. It was a hot topic among the bishops and clerics that have separated the Holy Church into two factions. Those who believe that magic is a gift by God to help his creations survive. And traditionalist that fear that magic is a temptation given to humans by the Devils of the other realm in order to tempt them. And sadly the man he considered a father belonged to the latter group. You will be opening your soul to devils of unimaginable power. The old bishop would remind him. Temptation and sin. The desire to become God and trample in his holiness's territory. As much as those words hurt, Marco held onto his golden cross and whispered a slight prayer. God created everything on this planet and man in his image. Does that not mean God has mana? Does that not mean that God wants humans to wield magic to better take care of his creation? This progressive way of thinking was uprooting the Church. And sadly Marco, a noble bastard, found himself completely in love with the belief. "Besides, lets see if a Devil messes with me if I'm throwing giant rocks at him." Marco joked. His crimson robe had two massive golden crosses sewn within, letting those who laid eyes upon him know that he belonged to the path of the holiness. Unlike the other peasants, Marco decided to walk to the massive repository. ...But the foolish boy found himself at another library in the Clover Kingdom. "Ugh!" Marco spat venomously. How did he miss it again? How did he find himself so lost?! Well, Marco couldn't tell his left from his right sometimes. "Hey wait!" Marco screamed at a passing carriage. "The grimoire ceremony please!" "A church boy taking part in the grimoire ceremony?" The old man laughed. "Hop on boy. This year is gonna be interesting!" The trip wasn't more than fifteen minutes. Marco found himself before the repository, covered in sweat and smelling of different spices. "Marco." "Marco of the Holy Church." The guard confirmed. "You guys tend to make the most entertaining mages. You may proceed." Marco bowed and entered the spiraling tower of grimoires with amazement and wonder. He hadn't seen many mages in person. So the other rookies created butterflies in his stomach. Were these his competition? They'd probably had years upon years of practice. To think he might have to fight against them. ---- Sometime after the repository had opened its’ doors to the general public Andreas made his way out of his family's manor, opting to walk to the location rather than taking the carriage along with his parents. He had no interest in riding in a stuffy old carriage with his obnoxious parents, who had spent the entirety of last night voicing their expectations of him. He knew that this was the day that he'd either receive his parents’ admiration or their resentment for failing the family. Despite his residence being close to the area Andreas found the walk rather long and taxing, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief once he got to the building. The structure was simply magnificent, an architectural masterpiece, with members of the magic knights at every possible entrance. It was truly a sight to behold. The only thing that one could say spoiled the scene being the presence of commoners and peasants. His parents had always told him that those not from the noble region we're below them and publicly displayed their biased towards them, although he never really quite understood why. Andreas stood in line waiting for his turn, looking around for any sign of his parents. The were late as usual, however he found this quite strange as they had departed from the estate long before he had. Feeling a bit anxious, Andreas considered setting out to look for them, that was before he snapped out his little daze and found himself at the front of the line. He had hardly noticed the line move. Now in the presence of one knights guarding the entrances, Andreas’ legs turned to jelly as he struggled to get a single word out of his mouth. “What is your name young man?” she asked in a soft polite voice, as she gestured at the boy to speak up. “Andreas Agostini” The boy said almost immediately managing to get a few words out. Upon hearing the name the 'Agostini’ the magic knight stepped aside and let the boy through. Although House Agostini was not one of the ruling families of the kingdom, it still carried enough power to persuade common folk into doing their bidding. Upon entering the tower Andreas was taken back by the number of people in attendance. He began wondering whether or not there would be enough grimoires for everybody, would someone leave this tower without one in hand today. However with just a glance he could already tell that there had to be thousands upon thousands of grimoires, one of which would soon fall under his ownership. "I hope both mother and father get here on time. I would hate to be embarrassed in front of all my future peers..." Andreas whispered as he looked over his shoulder, eagerly awaiting their arrival. ----- The day had finally come. It took much convincing on her mom's part for her mum to give the go ahead, but here she was. The girl tried not to think about how she was a year behind most of the eager masses gathering today. Limited without a grimoire, she could only leave the tiniest scratches on the surface of her magic abilities. It irritated her to no end, stuck with rudimentary gestures and mastering hand-to-hand under her other mom's watchful eye. She was the one who got it after all; that same insatiable drive to achieve and excel. Not that her mom didn't have concerns too; she was just better at setting them aside and supporting Beatrix. "Compartmentalizing", the older woman called it. It's what Beatrix was trying to do as she flip-flopped between great anticipation and existential dread for when the checkpoint came up. As much as she loved her moms, the hyphenated last name wasn't their best idea. It's why she chose to walk instead, weaving through the city streets after leaving their shared home. Here she could think, and prepare herself as best as she could, blending with the growing masses set to attend this momentous event. Part of Trix wondered how the Magic Emperor pulled this off logistically and financially; seeing the parade of chariots only gave a small sampling of the hurdles and likely exorbitant cost of this charade. Then again, it was likely good for morale and nationalism, recognizing everyone who was responsible for contributing to this country's existence. The girl languidly wondered what nobles thought of their children and kin rubbing shoulders with commoners. Beatrix made a note to ask her parents when she returned. "Ma'am. MA'AM." Beatrix snapped to attention as the gruff voice of Magic Knight pierced through her daydreams, "You're up next." She walked forward. "Your name?" She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Beatrix Roselei-Vermillion," she responded. Predictably, those waiting inline or within earshot went quiet upon hearing this, before a growing cascade of whisper arose. "So it's her...they adopted her right? Where is she from? Is she a commoner? I wonder if she should have that last name. Well, she's pretty enough to pass for a noble I guess. Not that she'll ever be one proper; her magic power seems too limited." She followed the content of each conversation as they reached her ears, a little so she could catch more than snippets. The Magic Knight, to his credit, didn't participate in this gossip. "There you are," he commented, pen hovering over her name on, "Head on in. The ceremony should be starting in a few." "Thanks." With that, Beatrix went inside, her focus laser-like as she contemplated what awaited her. ----